Monday, September 29, 2008

These are some "bad" stats from the first 26 games of the MLS season that as a team or a player you'd rather not be associated with. Own Goals, Losing Streaks, etc.. (All teams but SJ and HOU have played 26 games).

Friday, September 26, 2008

I've always wondered why MLS hasn't scouted for more African born players in the past. I know the best of the bunch pretty much automatically get scooped up in Europe but it is definitely a fertile ground for young talent. That said, It seems that in the past year or so more African talent has made it's way to the league from various career paths.

I decided to do this post because I was curious to know which players came from the NCAA ranks and which came directly from African clubs. These are a few short biographies of the African born players currently playing in Major League Soccer and how they were recognized and signed with the league.

Bakary Soumare(Mali - Chicago Fire)Born in Mali but moved to Paris at a young age, before moving to New York as a teen. Played for the University of Virginia before being drafted 2nd by Chicago in the 2007 SuperDraft.

Patrick Nyarko (Ghana - Chicago Fire)Born in Ghana, was met by Virginia Tech coach on a recruiting trip to Ghana. Nyarko helped Virginia Tech to the NCAA Final Four while there and was drafted 7th by the Fire in the 08 SuperDraft.

Emmanuel Ekpo (Nigeria - Columbus Crew)Was playing in the Nigerian League with Enyimba FC last season before being picked up by the Crew in April of 2008.

Stanley Nyazamba (Zimbabwe - Columbus Crew)Born in Zimbabwe, Nyazamba played college soccer with Lee University in Tennessee before eventually moving to USL2 with the Richmond Kickers. In 2008 he was the rookie of the year in USL2 and he recently signed with the Crew.

Ibrahim Koroma (Sierra Leone - DC United)Koroma played on the Sierra Leone Premier League side Kallon FC before signing with DC United on September 12, 2008.

Thabiso Khumalo (South Africa - DC United)Khumalo moved to the USA at the age of 16 and played college soccer at Coastal Carolina University. He then spent a few years bouncing around MLS, PDL, USL, and South Africa, before being signed on a loan deal to DC United from the USL2 Pittsburgh Riverhounds in September 2008.

Louis Crayton (Liberia - DC United)Crayton has spent most of his professional career since 1997 playing in Switzerland with various clubs. In August 2008 he was signed by DC United from FC Basel.

Francis Doe (Liberia - DC United)Doe has played in Greece, Ghana, Cameroon, and USL before being signed by Red Bull New York in 2007 and now DC United in 2008.

Kheli Dube (Zimbabwe - New England Revolution)Dube was playing in Zimbabwe before moving to the USA to play with Coastal Carolina University. He then went on to help the Michigan Bucks reach the PDL championship games in 2006 and 2007. He was picked up by the New England Revolution in the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft.

Kenny Mansally (The Gambia - New England Revolution)Mansally was discovered by New England at the 2007 U-20 World Cup and was signed shortly after.

Sainey Nyassi (The Gambia - New England Revolution)Like Mansally, was discovered at the U-20 World Cup before signing with the Revs.

Danleigh Borman (South Africa - New York Red Bulls)The South African Native came to the US to play college soccer with the University of Rhode Island. He then played for PDL's Rhode Island Stingrays before being picked up in the Supplemental Draft by New York.

Sainey Touray (The Gambia - New York Red Bulls)Touray was playing with Wallidan FC in the Gambian First Division before going on trial with New York and eventually signing in August.

Macoumba Kandji (Senegal - New York Red Bulls)The big forward, currently on loan to New York from USL's Atlanta Silverbacks, came to the US as an 18 year old where he attended high school for a year before moving on to play soccer at Georgia Military College.

Bouna Coundoul (Senegal - Colorado Rapids)Bouna came to the USA and played with Martin L King Jr. High School in NYC and later with the Univeristy of Albany, SUNY. Bouna then signed with the Colorado Rapids in 2005.

Mehdi Ballouchy (Morocco - Colorado Rapids)Ballouchy moved to the United States in 2000 at age 17. He played for a year with Creighton University in Nebraska and two years with Santa Clara in California before signing a Generation Adidas contract with MLS. Before coming to the US he was playing with the Raja Casablanca youth system.

Dominic Oduro (Ghana - FC Dallas)Oduro started out at the University of Ghana before transferring to Virginia Commonwealth University in 2004. He was then seleceted 22nd overall in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft by Dallas.

Kei Kamara (Sierra Leone - Houston Dynamo)Kei came over from Sierra Leone to play college soccer a Cal State Dominguez Hills. He then spent a couple of seasons with PDL powerhouse Orange County Blue Star before being selected by Columbus in the 2006 SuperDraft.

Guy Roland-Kpene (Ivory Coast - Houston Dynamo)Guy came to the US in 2003 at the age of 20 and played some college soccer at both Westchester Community College and Dowling College on Long Island. He made 16 appearances with DC before being signed by Houston in May.

Davide Somma (South Africa - San Jose Earthquakes)23 year old Somma recently signed a developmental contract with San Jose after spending a few years in the lower divisions of Italian soccer.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

These are all the transfers between the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (Brazil) and the J-League (Japan) that have taken place between the leagues in the last year or so. Lately there have been many players returning to Brazil after a stint in Japan (with former Tokyo Verdy and Urawa Reds player Washington playing a major role in Fluminense's Copa Libertadores runner-up finish last season).

Every club in the J-League has at least 1 Brazilian and half the clubs in the league have at least 3 Brazilians on there roster.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Here is an up to date interactive map of all the Canadian Players on top division squads in Europe. (In England and Germany, I included the 2nd division players as well). Click the flags for club/player names and zoom in to see the stadiums. Click view larger map for easier navigation options.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

I'll be driving down to Chicago tonight for tomorrow night's USA v Trinidad and Tobago WCQ game. I really have no idea if many Chicago residents read the blog, but if you're out there, I'd like to hear some suggestions of things to do tonight and tomorrow during the day. I'm from Michigan so I've been to Chicago and it's Museums and Zoo's dozens of times, I'd like to hear more about "local" spots, parks, ethnic neighborhoods, nearby suburbs, etc. than frequent tourist areas. We are staying in Oak Park.

Best Chicago Pizza Place?Best Mexican Food?Best Free Attractions?Is the Globe Pub worth stopping by during the day?Any other suggestions?

These stats should probably filed in the "hmm, interesting, but that doesn't mean a whole lot right now" category, due to the vast variance in the number of World Cup Qualifiers played by each Federation around the world. I'll try to remember to update the post as more qualifiers are played, feel free to remind me if the post goes stale.

Friday, September 5, 2008

It's unfortunate for Newcastle United fans that Kevin Keegan was seemingly driven out of their manager's seat, but if it means more time to listen to him talk, I'm all for it. He is definitely one of the kings of "foot-in-mouth/speak-before-you-think" comments in the world of soccer. Here's a variety of entertaining quotes he's uttered into a microphone in the past.

"England have the best fans in the world and Scotland's fans are second-to-none."

"We deserved to win this game after hammering them 0-0 in the first half."

"You can't do better than go away from home and get a draw."

"Mark Hughes at his very best: he loves to feel people right behind him..."

"Hungary is very similar to Bulgaria. I know they're different countries..."

"I’m not trying to make excuses for David Seaman but I think the lights may have been a problem.”

"I'm not disappointed - just disappointed."

"The substitute is about to come on - he's a player who was left out of the starting line-up today."

"You get bunches of players like you do bananas, though that is a bad comparison."

"Our current financial situation means that if we want to buy, we have to spend."

"Chile have three options - they could win or they could lose."

"Luis Figo is totally different to David Beckham, and vice versa."

"Goalkeepers aren't born today until they're in their late twenties or thirties."

"He can't speak Turkey, but you can tell he's delighted."

"The game has gone rather scrappy as both sides realise they could win this match or lose it."

"Argentina are the second best team in the world and there is no higher praise that that."

"The Germans only have one player under 22, and he's 23."

"It's like a toaster, the ref's shirt pocket. Every time there's a tackle, up pops a yellow card."

"Nicolas Anelka left Arsenal for £23million and they built a training ground on him."

"I've had an interest in racing all my life, or longer really."

"He’s got a heart as big as his size, which isn’t big, but his heart’s bigger than that"

"Argentina won't be at Euro 2000 because they are from South America."

"If I had a blank piece of paper there'd be five names on it.”

"I came to Nantes two years ago and it's much the same today, except that it's completely different"

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Clubs in any league obviously have a little housekeeping to do by selling, releasing, and loaning out players on their squad to make room for new additions. These are all of the major "outs" from each Premiership club led by Fulham who "showed the door" to 16 players during the 08 summer transfer window.

Monday, September 1, 2008

With the news of Thaksin Shinawatra's sale of Manchester City to a United Arab Emirates business group, I wondered how many solitary uber-wealthy owners are currently left in the Premiership. Here is a list I came up with:

Aston VillaRandy Lerner (Net Worth: $1.5 billion) - Inherited his fortune from his father, who had made billions of dollars in credit cards via MBNA. Also the owner of the Cleveland Browns (NFL)

Bolton WanderersEddie Davies - (Net Worth: $162 million) - Made his fortune from the manufacture of controls and cordless interfaces for kettles, jugs, and water boiling appliances.

Manchester UnitedMalcolm Glazer - (Net Worth: $2.5 billion) - Owns the Tampa Bay Bucaneers (NFL) and is president of First Allied Corporation, which makes most of it's money in the food processing industry

PortsmouthAlexandre Gaydamak - (Net Worth: $180 million) - A member of a wealthy family, made fortune in properties and banking

Stoke CityPeter Coates - (Net Worth: $540 million) - Made his fortune with bet365, a British based gambling/gaming company and also in the catering industry.

West Ham UnitedBjörgólfur Guðmundsson - (Net Worth: $1.98 billion) The owner and chairman of the second Largest company in Iceland, the bank Landsbanki. Also made fortunes in the Brewing industry, as well as the seafood and freight industries.

Wigan AthleticDave Whelan - (Net Worth: $360 million) - Made his fortune with JJB Sports, a large sports retailer in the UK.